Both Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson backtracked Thursday, claiming they don’t want to repeal the Affordable Care Act despite past statements to the contrary.
Trump on Thursday denied wanting to overhaul the law, writing in a Truth Social post that Vice President Kamala Harris was wrong to say that he did.
Trump did say he would “replace” Obamacare during his debate with Harris last month. He later said he only had “concepts of a plan” as to what would would follow.
ADVERTISEMENT
Additionally, Trump tried and failed to repeal and replace the legislation in 2017. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, his administration also asked the Supreme Court to overturn it.
As for Johnson, who was campaigning for Republicans in Pennsylvania Monday, he was captured on camera saying “no Obamacare” after an audience member asked directly: “No Obamacare?”
“The ACA is so deeply engrained,” he continued. “We need massive reform to make this work, and we’ve got a lot of ideas on how to do that.”
Yet Thursday morning, the Louisiana lawmaker insisted he was being taken “out of context.”
“They‘re twisting our words,” Johnson told the receptive Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. “They took a clip out of context and said that I said we were promising to repeal Obamacare. That‘s not what I said. It’s actually the opposite of that.”
Democrats aren’t convinced.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries weighed in on the potential repeal, saying of Republicans, “We know they‘ll do it, because they’re convinced that if Roe v. Wade can fall, then anything can fall.”
The Harris campaign is also hammering the issue.
“Among the stakes in this election are whether we continue with the Affordable Care Act, or not,” the vice president said in Madison, Wisconsin, Thursday morning.
“It has been a part of Donald Trump’s agenda for a very long time. He has made dozens of attempts to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, and now we have further validation of that agenda from his supporter, the Speaker of the House.”
She then warned about the loss of coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.
“Access to health care should be a right, and not just a privilege for those who can afford it.”
